Shortlisted for the 2017 Schuster Award for “Best Comics for Kids”

Winner of the 2016 Parents’ Choice Awards

Presentation Information

Readers theatre with a graphic twist! That’s the best way to describe J. Torres’ interactive presentation.

After opening with a reading of one his short comic book stories (with the panels projected as a slideshow for the audience to see the art), the author will talk about how comic books and graphic novels inspired him to read and write as a child, and eventually become a professional writer. He will then show how comic scripts are written, and how stories go from script to art to printed book, while involving the audience in a fun “pop quiz” along the way. Finally, he will read a second story, but this time with the help of volunteers from the audience! A handful of students will be cast as characters in the story while the rest of the group provides the sound effects (DING! HONK! BOOM!).

J. Torres offers a personal story that has inspired students; an engaging presentation with some educational content in the middle; and a kid-tested, teacher and librarian-approved “readers theatre with a graphic twist”!

Book List

How to Spot a Sasquatch
Written by J. Torres
Illustrated by Aurélie Grand
(Owlkids Books, May 2018)

Biography

Torres was four years old when his family immigrated to Canada from the Philippines. At an early age, he learned to read from newspaper strips and comic books. By the third grade, he was writing and drawing comic strips for the school paper; and in the sixth grade he wrote and directed a play based on an Archie comic.

By the time he graduated high school, he knew he wanted to be a writer and aspired to work for the publishers of his favourite superhero comics. That dream came true in the early 2000s when he wrote some X-Men stories for Marvel and was then hired to write the Teen Titans Go series for DC Comics. He’s been writing comics and graphic novels professionally ever since. Torres has written for all the major North American comic book publishers as well as some of Canada’s biggest children’s book publishers. He’s written stories for popular characters and titles such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, Batman, Black Panther, Degrassi, Ninja Scroll, Rick and Morty, The Simpsons, Wall-E, Wonder Woman, Yo Gabba Gabba, and many others. His graphic novels for younger readers include Bigfoot Boy, Brobots, The Mighty Zodiac, How to Spot a Sasquatch, and the forthcoming Hockey Night in Galaxia.

Awards

Brobots and the Kaiju Kerfuffle

Shortlisted for the 2017 Shuster Award for “Best Comics for Kids”

Winner of the 2016 Parents’ Choice Awards

Bigfoot Boy: The Sound of Thunder

Shortlisted for the 2014 Shuster Award or “Best Comics for Kids”

Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventures

Shortlisted for the 2003 Eisner Award for “Best Title for Younger Readers”

J. Torres (Body of Work)

Winner of the 2006 Shuster Award for “Outstanding Writer”

Shortlisted for the 2005, 2007-2011 Shuster Award for “Outstanding Writer”

Praise

“J. Torres gave us an engaging presentation for a captive young audience as he shared his love of comic books by talking about how he became a comic writer.”

“My favourite part was how he brought his reading to life through reader’s theatre, which got the whole audience engaged. In fact, we were so inspired that we are incorporating reader’s theatre into our summer programming here at the library.”